Understanding our professional designations
We’re serious about education. In addition to maintaining state and industry licensure – rigorous examinations in their own right – members of our advising team have completed additional courses of study to earn a professional designation. We list these acronyms after our names as marks of experience and testaments to our professional bearing.
-
The Certified Financial Planner® designation is among the most rigorous professional education programs available to financial advisors. It teaches a systematic approach to personal financial management that leads with planning and uses investing, risk management and a diverse set of financial services to pursue well-defined goals.
To become a Certified Financial Planner® professional one must pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam, have a minimum of three years’ professional experience in financial planning process and must be approved by the CFP Board, which involves an extensive background check – including an ethics, character and criminal check. To maintain certification, CFP® professionals must complete 30 hours of continuing education accepted by the CFP Board every two years.
-
The Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor credential program focuses on employee retirement plan management, fiduciary responsibility and regulatory compliance. Advisors who complete the program often work to support business’s and charitable organization’s employee retirement benefits programs.
The program is run by the National Association of Plan Advisors, a non-profit professional society. To earn the designation, applicants must complete a course of study and pass an examination. Annual continuing education credits are required to maintain the designation.
-
The Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ program, a creation of the College for Financial Planning, is solely focused on personal retirement planning. Topics include creating a “road map to retirement,” pre- and post-retirement needs, asset management and estate planning. Participants must complete coursework and pass an exam to use the designation and complete continuing education credits every two years.
-
The Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) program addresses personal wealth concerns unique to owners of privately held companies. Topics of study include business growth, added value and exit planning. The program helps to effectively address all of the personal, business, financial, legal and tax issues involved in selling a business. Operated by the Exit Planning Institute, to use the designation advisors must complete coursework, an examination and then meet continuing education requirements.
-
Trusts are powerful, flexible tools for financial planning, but complex and difficult to reverse. The Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor program was created to supplement professional education on trusts for financial advisors and other financial professionals. A program of the American Bankers Association, those who display the designation must complete coursework, pass an examination and meet continuing education requirements.
-
The Investment Management Consultant title is awarded to those who have completed the Raymond James Institute of Investment Management Consulting program. The invite-only program teaches the rigorous, institutional investment management process practiced by Raymond James Asset Management Services.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization's initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.
The Investment Management Consultant title is awarded to those who complete the Raymond James Institute of Investment Management Consulting program.
